Did Judas drink at the Last Supper?

Question

In reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John about the Last Supper, it's clear that Judas received the sop/morsel/bread. Everything in the numerous Bible versions in https://biblehub.com/ seems to support that. However, did Judas drink at the Last Supper? Those four Bibles seem to present mixed answers. How can that be explained?

Matthew 26:20-28 (KJV) 20 Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. 21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. 22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I? 23 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me. 24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born. 25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said. 26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Mark 14:17-24 (KJV) 17 And in the evening he cometh with the twelve. 18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. 19 And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I? 20 And he answered and said unto them, It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with me in the dish. 21 The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born. 22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. 23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.

Luke 22:19-25 (KJV) 19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. 21 But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed! 23 And they began to enquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing. (24 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. 25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors…)

John 13:26-30 (KJV)
26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. 28 Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30 He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

This has been a question for a long time, especially for those who wish to exclude all from partaking unless they are very well known or to 'guard the table', as it is called, from inappropriate partaking. I doubt it will be resolved here and my own attitude is that each congregation is left to administer the elements, among their own selves, as they see fit. But up-voted +1, in hope of something substantial. You say 'four bibles' and then quote four times from the KJV. (?) — Nigel J, Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 21:24
I had to use a version as an example to show how M, M, L, & J differ. I chose the KJV. If users would like to go to the biblehub re: the drinking they can. — John Martin, Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 21:51
Please note that this is Passover meal that included lamb (at that time), bitter herbs, charoset, four (4) cups of wine, unleavened bread, salt water for dipping, and lots of delicious cooked kosher food but no chametz (leavening). Jesus introduced what became known later as the Afikomen, the three matzos and the wine at the end of the meal. This makes a big difference in the interpretation of these passages! — Dieter, Commented May 31 at 5:56

Dottard · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-20 00:51:06Z

2

The four evangelists present the four events in a different order:

Matthew: Sop, Bread, Wine

Mark: Sop, Breadd, Wine

Luke: Wine Bread, Sop

John: Sop, Judas' departure

Notice several things about these accounts:

Luke records a different order for taking the bread vs wine
John does not record anything about bread and wine
Only John records the departure of Judas; the other evangelists do not record this at all

Thus, if we cannot be certain about whether Jesus blessed the bread or wine first, how can we be certain that we know the exact sequence of the other event? All I can conclude is that if it were that important, it would have been recorded with greater precision. as it is, given the vagueness, it is less important.

edited Dec 20, 2020 at 0:51

answered Dec 19, 2020 at 21:26

Dottard

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1

I'd think we'd have to consider who the authors were, when they wrote, where they got their information, etc. (e.g. Maybe one of them is very accurate).
– John Martin
Commented Dec 19, 2020 at 23:33

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James Ajiduah · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-20 03:00:09Z

The implication in my mind is that Judas received the Eucharist. Mark's version of the Last Supper, which is essentially the same as Matthew's.

17 When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. 18 While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.” 19 They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?” 20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. 21 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” 23 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. 25 “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” 26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Notice how Mark doesn't include Judas leaving. Matthew's version is the same as Mark's (for reasons I want to leave aside.)

25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said so.” 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Judas is never said to leave. We get Judas pretending innocence and Jesus calling him out on it.

Luke is vastly different; Jesus uses a different mode to identify the traitor.

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this. 24 A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.

John has no institution narrative, but we see Judas leave.

21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” 22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

This is how I take it. But I may be wrong.

Jesus predicts his betrayal. The disciples ask Him. Jesus identifies Him by the one who dips his hand in the dish with Him. Judas feigns innocence. Per Matthew and Mark.
Jesus and His followers eat the first Eucharist. Jesus identifies Judas by another mode: both their hands are on the table. By then the disciples suspect each other. Per Luke and John.
Jesus tells John who it is at Simon Peter's initiative. Judas leaves when Judas gets the sop. (This is common bread). Judas leaves, and the others are too busy playing detective. John and Luke.

In the end, no one knows for certain. But this fixation comes from an erroneous supposition that the table must be guarded. The table is never in danger. The sinner is.

As Paul says:

27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

I like your answer better than mine.
– Bill Porter
Commented Dec 20, 2020 at 18:06 — Bill Porter, Commented Dec 20, 2020 at 18:06
Thanks for the sentiment, brother Bill.
– James Ajiduah
Commented Dec 21, 2020 at 0:16 — James Ajiduah, Commented Dec 21, 2020 at 0:16

Corban · Accepted Answer · 2024-05-31 04:00:56Z

Simultaneous Public Predictions (John 13:21, Matthew 26:21-25, Mark 14:18-21)

All four Gospels (including Mark) depict Jesus making a public announcement about an impending betrayal during the Last Supper. This creates confusion among the disciples (John 13:21-22, Matthew 26:21-25, Mark 14:18-21).

Private Revelation (John 13:26-30)

Following the public pronouncements, John presents a more private scene where Jesus reveals the identity of the betrayer to the beloved disciple (John 13:26-30). The other disciples, including Judas, remain unaware of this private revelation.

Judas' Departure (John 13:30)

Judas leaves the table after receiving the morsel, but the reason for his departure is unclear to the other disciples (John 13:29-30).

Explanation after Departure (Luke 22:21)

Bill Porter · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-19 21:18:44Z

0

Great question. It appears that Judas was "cast out" during supper, therefore was not around for the after-supper cup

answered Dec 19, 2020 at 21:18

Bill Porter